Grants & Prizes

Erasmus School of Law employs many researchers who are among the best in their respective fields, at both a national and international level. This is the full list of grants and prizes of our top researchers who have received prestigious awards, grants, and prizes for scientific achievements during their time at Erasmus School of Law.

Erasmus China Law Centre

KNAW - China Exchange Programme 2017 Prof. Yuwen Li (ESL)

In the light of the China Exchange Programme (CEP) the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) awarded the Erasmus China Law Centre a grant of 40,000 euro for the joint research project

‘Reforming the Investor-State Dispute Settlement System: Dutch and Chinese Perspectives’ between Erasmus School of Law and Wuhan University Law School.

The project aims to stimulate and compare innovative ideas by Dutch and Chinese experts so as to make an academic contribution to reform the standing ISA through instituting an international investment court and advancing the operation of domestic courts for a fair and effective dispute settlement.

The two year project will include an international seminar in Wuhan, an international conference in Rotterdam and the research output will be disseminated in articles and a book. Both the Dutch and the Chinese team will finalise their expert reports in English and in Chinese respectively, and submit the reports to the relevant authorities involved in EU-China BIT negotiations.

Dr. Wouter Verheyen

EUR-Fellowship 2017

EUR-Fellowship Grant awarded to Wouter Verheyen PhD

A €135.000,- EUR-fellowship grant has been awarded to Wouter Verheyen, PhD. This grant allows Verheyen, an expert in the field of Transport law, to conduct a three year research project on horizontal collaboration in logistics.

Over the last years, Verheyen has gained expertise in research at the crossroads of law and logistics. This is also the case with this project, which not only aims to respond to logistic innovations, but also to be a catalyst for such innovations.

Horizontal cooperation in logistics allows to realise efficiency gains. Albeit many types of horizontal cooperation are possible, the focus of this research lies with three types of cooperation: cargo bundling, platooning networks and cooperative e-commerce.

The goal of his research is to provide contract models for these types of cooperation, with rules on the design of the partnership, the daily operations, the distribution of costs and benefits and liability. Verheyen aims to develop these models bottom-up by taking logistic companies` preferences as a starting point. After first conducting a broad survey within the sector (the platooning survey will soon be running in 12 countries), his models will be experimentally tested by a small group of these companies. The final aim is to provide the models to the sector through an online tool.

More cargo in a single haul

The first model under design is one for cargo bundling. With cargo bundling, different companies combine their respective cargos into a single haul. Cargo bundling greatly decreases empty running (i.e. trucks driving without a cargo), a significant and persistent money loser within the field of logistics.

Bundling can also be used to optimize the efficiency of truck loads. Nowadays, transportation of heavy products (steel plating, for example) often leaves a relatively large part of the available space unused. But when these loads are combined with a shipment of very light products (a shipment of pillows, for instance), collaborating companies will be able to use this space and increase the total number of products moved in a single haul.

The Future: Platooning

A second subject within Verheyen’s research project concerns the phenomenon on platooning. In the field of logistics, platooning occurs when a column of trucks is digitally linked to each other. The first truck acts as the driver for the entire column, so to speak. Future technology will permit the drivers of the other trucks to take their prescribed periods of rest during the actual drive.

Another great benefit of platooning will be a significant projected decrease of rear-end collisions on the road. When the first truck has to use the brakes, all other trucks of the column will automatically brake at the same time and speed. Unfortunately, this tech is currently unavailable on a large scale: at this point, the only great benefit of platooning is a drop in petrol usage. As the success of platooning depends on the available network of platooning ready vehicles, again cooperation could be the key to a successful introduction of this technology. For this reason again a legal framework for cooperation is desirable.

The costs of e-commerce

The third and last topic Verheyen plans to research has to do with possible improvements in the field of e-commerce, with an emphasis on reducing the costs connected to the exercise of the withdrawal right and damage during delivery. Since costumers often return products they have purchased online, webshops have to spend a lot of money on return shipments. To cut back on these costs, Verheyen advises webshops to think about ways to bundle these shipments. A possibility for webshops would be the establishment of joint physical return and collection points with their peers. By doing this, they would not only be able to cut costs, but also to curtail revocation rights and increase control over their deliveries.

More information

With the EUR Fellowships Scheme, the Erasmus University Rotterdam wants to provide recently graduated and talented researchers an extra sense of security in their academic career. Additionally, the EUR Fellowship should be seen as an incentive in trying to obtain external financing in spite of the increasingly lower chances of success.

Dr. Alessandra Arcuri

EUR-Fellowship 2017

ESL congratulates dr. Alessandra Arcuri with EUR-Fellowship

Alessandra Arcuri is Associate Professor at the Department of International and European Law, Erasmus School of Law. Her research focuses on the global governance of risks and the intersection of international economic law and risk regulation.

The Executive Board granted Dr. Arcuri the €149.819 EUR Fellowship, enabling Arcuri to focus on her research project ‘Rethinking Global Technocracy: An inquiry into the Accountability of Global Regulatory Scientific Institutions (GRSIs)’.

Alessandra Arcuri is Associate Professor at the Department of International and European Law, Erasmus School of Law. Her research focuses on the global governance of risks and the intersection of international economic law and risk regulation. The Executive Board granted Dr. Arcuri the €149.819 EUR Fellowship, enabling Arcuri to focus on her research project ‘Rethinking Global Technocracy: An inquiry into the Accountability of Global Regulatory Scientific Institutions (GRSIs)’.

A wide range of risks in contemporary societies, related to among others new technologies, international trade relations, and global public goods, are governed by institutions whose functioning we know very little about. Think, for instance, of the regulation of mobile phones. Almost all countries in the world have adopted the safety standards on electromagnetic fields established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, a non-governmental organization, composed of only a dozen of scientists. Akin to these, a myriad of influential standards are (co-)produced by new institutions, mainly constituted by scientists, which are referred to as Global Regulatory Scientific Institutions (GRSIs). Notwithstanding the important role of GRSIs for the production of international and transnational standards, little research has been conducted on their nature and operation and even less on their accountability. In her research, Dr. Arcuri will focus on the mechanisms to hold GRSIs accountable. The challenges in engaging in such analysis stem from the hybrid nature of GRSIs, being bodies operating at the intersection of science, law and politics and from their global nature. This project takes up these challenges and, drawing on socio-legal studies, aims at bringing the debate on global technocracy to a new frontier, by refocusing the analysis on the accountability of GRSIs.

With the EUR Fellowships Scheme, the Erasmus University Rotterdam wants to provide recently graduated and talented researchers with more assurance in their career move. In principle each year 10 Fellowships are to be awarded.

Dr. René Repasi / Amtenbrink

Prof. Fabian Amtenbrink & Dr. René RepasiLDE Centre EURO CEFG 2017

Mr. René Repasi presents research on completing the Economic and Monetary Union

Mr. René Repasi (researcher at Erasmus School of Law), who also acts as scientific coordinator of the European Research Centre for Economic and Financial Governance (EURO-CEFG), was invited this weekend to the Congress of the Union of European Federalists to present his legal research on the potential of reform of the Economic and Montary Union within the boundaries of the existing EU Treaties.

Mr. René Repasi presented his research to delegates and guests of the congress. He focussed in his presentation on a switch of perspective in EU economic policy coordination from enforcement to compliance. This theory of analysing and structuring EU economic policy coordination against the a theoretical framework of compliance allows for a better understanding of future reform potential within the EU Treaties. It was developed in a collaboration with Vice-Dean of Erasmus School of Law Professor Fabian Amtenbrink. Repasi furthermore spoke about the need and the legal options for establishing an additional fiscal capacity for the Economic and Montary Union , which could set financial incentives for policy reforms in the Euro area Member States and which may act as an automatic stabiliser in times of economic crises.

The Congress of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) is the oldest non-governmental organisation campaigning for a federal Europe founded in 1946. It celebrated its 70th birthday on the 25th congress in Strasbourg (France). The UEF that is currently presided by the German Member of the European Parliament Elmar Brok represents 20.000 members and consists of 24 national member organisations.

Prof. Richard Staring

On 21 may prof. dr. Richard Staring, prof. dr. Maartje van de Woude and prof. dr. Joanne van der Leun received a grant of 26.000 euros for their research proposal ‘National and Local consequences of global mobility in the context of border security’.

Richard Staring, Maartje van de Woude and Joanne van der Leun received a green light from prof. dr. ir. Genserik Reniers, the director of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) Safety and Security Centre, to develop and write a full research proposal for NWO or EU Horizon 2020 and organize an international research meeting and seminar.

‘National and Local consequences of global mobility in the context of border security’will focus on how top down European Union requirements and policies of internal and external border security intermingle and interfere with national policies, practices and regional cultures that deal with cross border mobilities as transnational terrorism and mass (refugee) migration. Questions to be answered in this international research project focus on local as well as on (inter)national consequences of these divergent traditions by discerning different forms of internal as well as external modes of control and border security and their local and international impact on global mobility.

In doing so the research will relate to two central research fields within the LDE Safety and Security Centre. It will first of all clarify the (local) public’s perceptions and meanings on security in several border areas. Secondly, the research will deal with legal as well as moral and ethical aspects surrounding border security.

About the strategic LDE-alliance

Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University Rotterdam work together in numerous areas in education, research and valorisation. In the Strategic Alliance, established in 2012, the three universities are building on this and intensifying their existing collaboration. In the future, the alliance will continue to take shape in areas in which it offers added value and where the universities complement and reinforce each other.

Prof. Xandra Kramer

ERC Consolidator Grant 2016

Professor Xandra Kramer awarded prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant

In the next five years Xandra Kramer, Professor of European civil procedure at the Erasmus School of Law, will conduct research with three postdocs and two PhD researchers that will contribute to effective and equal access to justice for EU citizens.

Out of more than 2,300 applications the European Research Council, Professor Kramer was awarded with a prestigious Consolidator Grant of 2 million euro for her research project ‘Building EU civil justice: challenges of procedural innovations bridging access to justice’. This project builds further on her NWO-VIDI research of 2010, and a EUR fellowship of 2004.

Professor Kramer’s research aims to improve access to civil justice as guaranteed by the Human Rights Convention and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Civil justice is under constant pressure resulting from the often high costs, complexity and long duration of civil procedures in many EU Member States. Key issues in the current efforts to bridge the access to justice gap at the EU and national level are digitalization of procedures, privatization of justice, an increased possibility of self-representation, and specialization of courts and procedures. While these are potentially ground-breaking in contributing to easier and cheaper access to courts and private forms of adjudication, a one-sided focus on procedural efficiency or economic advantage may have repercussions for procedural justice and the inclusive quality of the civil justice system. The project will investigate how these trends influence access to justice in five representative Member States, and what the repercussions are for the emerging EU civil justice system.

The project will undoubtedly further strengthen the profile of the Erasmus School of Law as a research institution with a strong social and business-driven orientation that is committed to promoting international and interdisciplinary research.

The board of Erasmus School of Law would like to offer the warmest congratulations to Professor Kramer for this enormous achievement.

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Prof. Fabian Amtenbrink, prof. Klaus Heine & prof. Gerard Meijer

Marie Curie ITN 2016

Erasmus School of Law awarded a Marie Curie European Training Network on TTIP as part of European Consortium

Erasmus School of Law has been awarded a Marie Curie ETN grant by the European Commission under the H2020 Programme. Led by the University of Birmingham, the European consortium combines the expertise of eleven core beneficiaries and 22 partners, hosting and training fifteen Early Stage Researchers (0-4 years research experience).

The total value of the award is about 4 M€ of which 540k€ will come to ESL. The research activities will last four years. Fabian Amtenbrink, Professor of European Union Law is the lead for ESL. Next to co-supervising two PhD projects he will fulfil the role of Director of Training for the whole Network. Klaus Heine, Professor of Law and Economics will co-supervise a PhD project and will also be in charge of one of the network-wide training modules on Law and Economics of TTIP. Finally, Gerard Meijer, professor for arbitration and dispute settlement, will co-supervise a PhD project. Moreover he provides the link to one of the non-academic partners of the Network (NautaDutilh).

Marie Curie ETN

The Marie Curie ETN, named after the double Nobel Prize winning Polish-French scientist, is a European PhD programme for highly motivated young scientists, where state-of-the-art research is combined with a comprehensive training programme. All Early Stage Researchers benefit from an extensive training program delivered jointly by academic, industrial and administrative partners. The aim is for the researcher to experience different sectors and develop their transferable skills by working on joint research projects.

(Prof. Fabian Amtenbrink, Gerard Meijer and Klaus Heine)

About the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

The EU currently is negotiating a controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement with the USA, the main features of which will be the abolition of tariffs, the reduction of non-tariff barriers to trade between the EU and the USA and the introduction of a dispute settlement mechanism.

Objective of the TTIP Innovative Training Network

The objective of the awarded TTIP Innovative Training Network (TTIP-ITN) is to foster interdisciplinary research into TTIP with a view to create a significantly increased European knowledge base and research capacity on TTIP, thus helping Europe to reap the benefits of TTIP (wealth, jobs, etc.) while addressing its challenges (democracy, accountability, environmental- and labour standards, etc.).

The research will focus on three clusters:

Transatlantic governance

Transatlantic regulation

Multilateralism and regionalism

Comments of the European Commission

The European Commission was enthusiastic about the proposal: 'The proposal is of high quality and clearly presents a very credible research programme, focusing on a timely issue with an innovative methodology. Network-wide advanced training events with supervision of qualified and relevant experts are very clearly described. Interdisciplinary and intersectoral aspects of the research and training programmes are very well explained, and it is evident that the intersectoral aspect of the training program will bridge the gap between the research. [...]

Prof. Ellen Hey

Honorary doctorate Stockholm University (2016)

Professor of Public International Law at Erasmus School of Law, received an honorary doctorate from Stockholm University

Prof. René van Swaaningen

Erasmus+ programme 2016

Research Master in European and International Criminology (ReMEIC) granted to ESL Criminology Department

Nuffic has granted an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Application for the development of a two-years (120 ECTS) Research Master in European and International Criminology, that is planned to start in September 2018.

The ESL Criminology Department coordinates the ReMEIC consortium (with René van Swaaningen as academic director and Joost Steevens as project-manager) that further consists of the Universities of Bologna, Ghent, Istanbul (Koç) and Kent.

The ReMEIC programme focuses on Border Crossing, Security and Social Justice. Next to the five, for this theme particularly well-chosen, consortium partners, ReMEIC has three associated partner institutions in countries that also play a quite specific role in migration-processes into the EU: the universities of Hamburg and Budapest (Eötvös Loránd –ELTE) and the Université Hassan 1er in Settat, Morocco. Next to these, some fifteen stakeholders working in the field of migration have also committed themselves to ReMEIC. Amongst them are e.g. the Greek Ombudsman, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service IND and the Italian NGO Antigone.